Lansing

The history of metal music can be traced back to England, when economic growth became slower and unemployment started rising after World War II. Black Sabbath, the first major heavy metal band, formed and expressed the feelings of desolation. Then the metal music spread all over the world. Today in Lansing, the metal music bands, or underground music society, has a foundation of the audiences in these years, but still facing a lot of difficulties. “It’s not easy, being any musician, especially in a metal band, is very difficult,” said Alfonso Civile, the booking agent at the Loft, a venue dedicated to live, original touring music in Lansing.

On Monday, July 10, an Ingham County judge signed an injunction to temporarily halt construction of a new entrance to Groesbeck Golf Course in Lansing. After witnessing Ormond Park’s trees and play structures being torn down, Friends of Ormond Park rushed to seek an injunction. Lansing residents feel Groesbeck’s new entrance project should have been included in a public hearing. Kathleen Badgley, a member of Friends of Ormond Park, has lived next to Ormond Park for 39 years. Not once was the construction of the entrance mentioned to the public, according to Badgley.

In the City of Lansing, residents can find numerous flea market and antique stores, including Capitol City Pickers Vintage Marketplace, Dicker & Deal Second Hand Store, The Mega Mall and Vintage Junkies. Each of these stores has something in common – they cater to the same community. “When it comes to flea markets and antique stores, you can find different types of consumers,” said Ayalla Ruvio, an assistant professor of marketing at Michigan State University. “There are the ones that are generally interested in antiques. There are those people that do it for professional reasons.

Heroin continues to destruct our nation’s cities across the map. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2014 to 2015, heroin overdose death rates have increased by 21 percent. Nearly 13,000 people died in 2015. Greater Lansing shows similar trends. Ingham County Health Department gathers information from a variety of sources to report its annual Opioid Surveillance.

If you’re traveling through Lansing, you’re probably going to cross paths with one of Lansing’s many “High Lansing” billboards. Some Lansing residents assigned Lansing a new nickname: Lansterdam. Weedmaps advertisements can be found scattered throughout Lansing. Weedmaps’ website allows patients with medical marijuana cards to find dispensaries based on their location. It also rates dispensaries, offers deals, and allows users to write reviews.

REO Town, a Lansing district located south of downtown, is considered the United States birthplace of the commercial automobile. The district is named after Ransom Eli Olds, an entrepreneur who founded the REO Motor Car Company in 1905. From 1905 to 1975, a major manufacturing plant for the REO Motor Car Company was located in REO Town. The plant gave a significant financial boost to the district, supplying both jobs and outside interest. Since production ceased in 1975, the automotive industry has remained the major employer in REO Town, with more than 2,000 workers employed by the Lansing Grand River Assembly plant.

Driving down Willow Street in Lansing, Mich. on a sunny afternoon, a passer-by notices there were 10 mannequins standing in front of a what it seems to be a clothing store. The mannequins were all dressed up from men’s to women’s clothing that were easily catching to the eye. Walking in, the visitor notices a woman sitting in a chair and a man in another. The store was called Unique Fashions; it was very small but it had so many clothes and items it was overwhelming.

The City of Lansing is home to more than 50 tourist attractions including small businesses, recreational activities and political education. How do visitors determine where to start? Lansing residents have several ideas of their own. Madison Stapels, a student strategist at Piper & Gold Public Relations, has lived in the area for several years. Stapels is a Michigan State University student and enjoys kayaking by the Lansing City Market in her free time.

The poor road conditions have made commuting in Lansing difficult for many residents and employees who drive in the city. City Chief Operating Officer and Director of Public Service Chad Gamble is very aware of the road conditions affecting these residents and employees. “Certainly commuting affects their vehicle, the quality of the vehicle, the life of the vehicle, the safety of their trip, the time it takes them to get there; it’s something we’ve been working on for decades,” Gamble said. The slow maintenance of roads in the area is due to the lack of funding and high cost of maintaining roads, particularly in the state of Michigan. The annual street funding for the City of Lansing dropped significantly between 2009 and 2010 and has yet to make a comeback 7 years later.

Dispensary owners and Lansing residents have been disputing a recent medical marijuana ordinance during biweekly City Council meetings. Some people in Lansing believe the flooded medical marijuana market results from poor marijuana dispensary regulations. “The purpose of the ordinance is to have realistic dispensaries available to people that really have a medical marijuana need,” said Marylin Ebaugh, resident of South Lansing. “What we have now is an over abundance of businesses.” A study conducted by Melissa Huber, Ph.D, estimates the number of patients spiked from 937 in 2011, to 2,866 in 2015. Some believe the process to obtain a medical marijuana card can be easily abused.

In 2016, there were around 12,000 animals licensed in and around Lansing. During the same period, 7,381 animals were taken into the two biggest animal shelters in the Greater Lansing Area: 3,139 of the animals went to Ingham County Animal Shelter, and 4,242 of them went to the Capital Area Humane Society. Some of the animals were abandoned by their owners, who could not care for their pets anymore for different reasons, some of them were rescued from unsafe places, and some of them were stray and became an animal shelter’s property. “They are usually just being dropped off at the door like sometimes the leash is tied to the door knob or they’re roaming around,” said Kelsee Horrom, a former volunteer at the animal shelter. “If they’re older the dogs won’t get adopted as quickly as younger ones, sadly.

In Case You Missed It

Summertime poses as the perfect opportunity for students to make and earn money for the up-and-coming school year but with more and more summer internships failing to offer compensation for their time students can struggle to make ends meet. “When I first got my internship I was so excited,” said Michigan State University pre-med student Ali Beydoun, “then found out it was unpaid and I got a little worried.